Women's Soccer

Erikson's Hat Trick, Two Assists Lead Notre Dame over Seton Hall

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Notre Dame's second-ranked women's soccer team won its first battle of BIG EAST unbeaten teams as freshman forward Meotis Erikson recorded her second consecutive hat trick and added two assists as the Irish downed Seton Hall 7-1. The Irish outshot the Pirates 38-3 and took a BIG EAST record 16 corner kicks in the contest.

Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Connecticut each entered the day in a three-way tie for first place in the BIG EAST with 8-0-0 conference records. The Irish and the Huskies, who beat Pittsburgh 5-0 on Friday, remain tied for first place in the BIG EAST at 9-0-0. Seton Hall drops its first conference game of the year and falls into second place at 8-1-0. Notre Dame and Connecticut will square off for first place on Sun., Oct. 26 at Alumni Field at 1:00 p.m. The Pirates travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday and then await Connecticut on Fri., Oct. 31, in South Orange, N.J.

Erikson got the Irish on the board quickly as she scored on her first two shots of the game to put Notre Dame up 2-0 early in the contest. She collected a loose ball in the box, dribbled out and turned and fired into the lower right of the net from 20 yards at 4:30. She then volleyed a cross from Jenny Streiffer from the left endline at 9:09 for what would be the game-winning goal.

Streiffer then sent the Irish into halftime with a 3-0 lead with a blast from 20 yards from the left wing that sailed into the lower right corner of net. She opened the second half with a goal at 48:46 when Holly Manthei dished from the left endline back up to the right wing where Streiffer scored from nine yards out.

Seton Hall sophomore forward Kelly Smith showed she is one of the top forwards in the country and why she is fifth in the nation in goals by sparking the Pirates in a six-minute span in the second half. She launched the first Seton Hall shot at 54:42 from 20 yards that sailed left.

Smith then created a breakaway and was fouled in the box at 56:45 to earn a penalty kick which she converted for her 18th goal of the season. She recorded Seton Hall's final shot at 60:51 when a hard shot from 10 yards from the left wing saved by Irish goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene.

Beene saw her streak of six consecutive shutouts snapped by Smith's penalty kick, a record Beene shares with former Notre Dame goalkeeper Michelle Lodgya, who blanked sox straight opponents in 1989. Beene, who has led the nation with the lowest goals against average for the last three weeks, allowed just her fifth goal in 1421 minutes in 1997 and just the second BIG EAST goal.

The Irish defense shut down Smith and the Pirates the rest of the game as the offense continued its attack. Erikson scored her third goal when she volleyed a rebound from five yards off a Manthei shot that Seton Hall goalkeeper Stacey Nagle blocked. Shannon Boxx made it 6-1 with a header from a cross from Manthei.

Notre Dame freshman midfielder Anne Makinen stunned the crowd with the game's most spectacular goal at 74:03. She took a pass from Manthei from the right wing from 35 yards and lofted a shot that curved left, sailing over Nagle's head. The ball slipped off the left post and fell into the net for the final goal in the 7-1 win. Makinen has now scored 13 goals on the season, 10 of which have been from at 18 yards and eight that have been from more than 20 yards out.

Erikson finished with the second-highest single-game point total in Irish history with three goals and two assists for eight points, just one short of the nine scored by Streiffer in 1996. Erikson has scored at least one goal in each of the last eight games, one short of the Irish record of nine games set by Amy VanLaecke in 1995. She has 14 goals in those eight games. Erikson has also scored at least one point in each of the last nine games.

Notre Dame and fifth-ranked Connecticut will square off at Alumni Field on Sun., Oct. 26 at 1:00 p.m.